The traditional Africa visit as “first trip” of the New Year by a senior Chinese official, began today as Foreign Minister Wang Yi was welcomed in the embattled country of Nigeria. This year marks the 30th year (starting in 1991) that China has chosen Africa for this “most-favored nation” honor. In addition to Nigeria, Wang will also visit the Democratic Republic of Congo, Botswana, Tanzania and Seychelles between now and January 9.
Wang’s visit comes as many nations on the continent are struggling with the re-emerging Covid-19 virus, which has already contributed to an emergence of famine conditions in places, and brought even the sturdier countries to the brink of collapse. In response, Nigerian head of Parliament Femi Gbajabiamila convened a Conference of Speakers and Heads of African Parliaments (CoSAP, so-far involving seven nations) this summer, in an effort to set the groundwork for {debt forgiveness} on the entire continent, a movement which, if China got behind it, could take on major significance. On December 10, Gbajabiamila presented his proposals for a Debt Cancellation Campaign Initiative to a virtual conference which reportedly included representatives from the United Nations, World Bank and European Union, among others, explaining to them that, “if all your money is going toward servicing debt, then how are we serious about this [recovery] agenda?”
For possibly the first time, Wang’s upcoming visits made headlines in an American publication, {Newsweek}, who took notice of the 30-year history of good Africa-China relations, and — although they felt duty-bound to mention that China is where Covid-19 “was first detected” — otherwise noted that China has made a “speedy recovery” which puts them ahead of western nations in regard to helping Africa.
It is no exaggeration to say that the COVID situation in California, especially Southern California, is horrific. Overwhelmed by rapidly accelerating numbers of cases, and lacking the space or resources to properly treat patients, doctors and hospital administrators are now discussing triage and rationing care. The Schiller Institute’s call for building a global healthcare system–training a youth medical corps and implementing a crash program to build hospitals in record time, as China did–is urgently needed. Otherwise, the murderous policies of Joe Biden’s medical adviser Ezekiel Emmanuel–“EZ Kill”–will become the norm.
Yesterday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that stay-at-home orders for the southern part of the state have been extended for another 2-3 weeks. Detailed reports in the {Los Angeles Times} and {New York Times} document the level of crisis in all LA County hospitals that are so inundated with patients that they’re putting them in conference rooms, gift shops, hallways, lobbies or in quickly-constructed tents in parking lots. Even so, they are running out of space. The LA County-USC Medical Center, as of the evening of Dec. 27, didn’t have one available bed for at least 30 patients who needed either intensive or immediate levels of care, and the hospital had to close its doors for all ambulance traffic for 12 hours. The situation is the same in the Community Hospital of Huntington Park, and Memorial Hospital of Gardena.
Over the Christmas holiday weekend, all LA County hospitals struggled to deal with increasing numbers of patients and are now bracing for a new wave of COVID cases as a result of Christmas travel and family gatherings. As of the morning of Dec. 28, there were 54 available ICU beds across all of LA County–and half were for pediatric patients.
Under these extreme conditions, the {Los Angeles Times} notes that doctors “are no longer pulling out all the stops to save a life, and instead [are] strategizing about where to most effectively use resources and equipment.” Dr. Elaine Batchlor, CEO of Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in Willowbrook, warns “we’re at a turning point. If it continues to get worse, many hospitals will begin rationing care.” Huntington Hospital in Pasadena issued an information sheet for patients and their families on Dec. 28, warning that should the situation “reach a point where our hospital faces a shortage that will affect our ability to care for all patients,” then a clinical committee consisting of doctors, a community member, a bioethicist, a spiritual care provider and other experts “will review the cases of all patients who are critically ill…and make necessary decisions about allocating limited medical resources based on the best medical information possible.” The hospital added that this “unburdens bedside staff from making any decisions about triaging care when resources are scarce.” Dr. Brad Spellberg, the Chief Medical Officer of Huntington Hospital explains, “We were just completely overwhelmed,” trying to “daily, hourly, cobble together solutions to get us through this crisis.” This hospital has one of the largest trauma centers in the western U.S., but conditions here have been steadily worsening since Thanksgiving.
In an interview yesterday with Margaret Atwood on BBC radio, Prince Charles waxed eloquent on the paradigm shift being wrought by the global central banks and aligned governments, to force businesses into line on the Green New Deal “carbon reduction” scam – i.e. global Malthusian deindustrialization and genocide masquerading as concern for the environment.
“Suddenly I noticed in the last 18 months or so, there has been a complete change of approach,” he stated, emphasizing the new role that companies and investors are playing in promoting the green agenda. The private sector has contributed to ravaging the environment for decades, he noted, but it “is now a necessary and critical part of the solution.”
Prince Charles quickly went creepy: “It is high time we paid more attention to … the wisdom of indigenous communities and First Nations people all around the world. We can learn so much from them as to how we can re-right the balance, and start to rediscover a sense of the sacred, because … Mother Nature is our sustainer.”
Human beings are “a microcosm of the macrocosm,” he pronounced. “But we have forgotten that, or somehow been brainwashed into thinking that we have nothing to do with nature and nature can just be exploited but if we go on exploiting the way we are, whatever we do to nature — however much we pollute her – we do to ourselves. It is insanity,” Charles said.
On the same BBC program, Atwood also spoke with the Swedish teenage wind-up green activist Greta Thunberg, and they both agreed that they hoped Joe Biden would bring about a “positive shift” in climate policy, especially since he has vowed to rejoin the Paris Accord. “It could be a good start of something new,” said Thunberg. “Let’s hope that it is like that and let’s push for it to become like that.”
As President Trump continues to fight to overturn the biggest election fraud in U.S. history, he has an opportunity to turn the tables on those who have attempted to destroy him and wreck his presidency over the last four years. While the enemies of the U.S. in the City of London and Wall Street are moving to turn the U.S. into a banana republic, and are trying to divert attention away from their treachery by blaming Russia and China, and calling banker’s puppet Joe Biden a Communist (!), their system is collapsing.
Helga Zepp LaRouche urged President Trump to outflank them, break out of the rigged game, by accepting Putin’s offer for an emergency summit, to change the dynamic from war and collapse to cooperation against today’s corporatist fascists. With the Davos billionaires desperately scheming to use a would-be Biden administration to impose Green fascism and push for new war provocations, there is an alternative solution: work with Russia and China, and adopt Lyndon LaRouche’s Four Economic Laws. She again reiterated her conviction that immersing oneself in great classical culture, especially the works of Beethoven, one can find the inner strength and beauty needed to win this world historic battle.
The budget agreement joined to the “COVID relief” legislation President Trump refused to sign until Sunday night, in no way will provide any stimulus to the real economy; but it does include a first-ever commitment by the United States Congress to ruin the economy, by adopting British Malthusian central banker Mark Carney’s goal of “zero carbon”. A President who states an intention to veto a piece of legislation does not have to list all the reasons for doing so. Presidents will often emphasize what they think is the most broadly unpopular flaw in legislation they want to veto; and President Trump has emphasized the inadequacy of $600/capita payments to bring lower-income households back from severe economic distress. But he remains, lamentably, the only really strong opponent of the economy-killing and nation-killing austerity of the Paris Climate Accord and the central bankers’ “Great Reset” to green economy worldwide.
This $900 billion fourth COVID relief package does not set a “zero carbon” deadline date, but does say that it is “the sense of Congress” that the Energy Department must prioritize funding for research to give the United States “100 percent clean, renewable, zero-emission energy sources”. This would attempt to ban clean coal, fossil-fuel hydrogen and natural gas-related research and – under the bizarre definitions of “renewable energy source” likely used by a Biden-named DoE chief, would cut down the research on advanced nuclear and fusion reactors which has been the Trump DoE’s focus. And then this legislation extends tax credits and funds (with $35 billion, a huge increase in DoE funding) new R&D programs for wind and solar power, electricity storage batteries, upgrades to “smart” electric grids, energy-efficiency projects like insulation, etc., and research on “removing carbon from the atmosphere” where it merely forms the indispensable basis for plant life. It empowers the EPA to cut production and use of hydrofluorocarbons by 85% over 15 years. So, the whole “Build Bunk Better” program is foreshadowed in this legislation.
Worse – finding the Green New Deal virtually promised in “relief” legislation which eventually was passed with large majorities, shows the degree to which labor-oriented Democrats and business-oriented Republicans have either taken the toxic kool-aid of low-energy, low-productivity, low-population economy, or have become convinced they must go along with it.
Members of the Schiller Institute NYC Chorus and the Bayonne, NJ Fire Department held the fourth memorial on Monday, December 28, for the 64 members of Russia’s Red Army Chorus, and the others, including journalists and beloved relief doctor Elisabeta Glinka, who perished when their plane crashed into the Black Sea, shortly after take off on December 25th, 2016.
The event this year was small, due to COVID restrictions, limiting participation to 24 people, which included Dmitry Chumakov, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN, Captain Donald Haiber of the Bayonne Fire Department and his honor guard, John Sigerson, Vice President of the Schiller Institute, members of the chorus, and two Russian press.
Captain Haiber officiated. After the American and Russian anthems were sung, Mr. Chumakov spoke about how deeply grateful he and his colleagues are to see the empathetic response for the American people for the tragedy which occurred 4 years ago. He said that the fact that we have persevered for four years indicates the strength of the friendship and that those people will never be forgotten.
This resonated with Capt. Haiber, who also spoke about 9/11, and how much the gift from Russia of the Memorial meant to the American people in that dark hour.
John Sigerson spoke on the theme of the “best of all possible worlds” where, as in the Brahms Naenie, meanness and ugliness will go down to oblivion.
Helga’s very beautiful and strong message was read by Diane Sare.
Greetings to the Memorial for The Alexandrov Ensemble of Song and Dance
by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, President of the International Schiller Institute
The world must never forget the 92 plane passengers, including the 64 heroic members of the Alexandrov Ensemble whose tragic death occurred in a plane crash four years ago as they were on their way to Syria to support the Russian Army who itself was on a mission to undo the consequences of an interventionist war. Because it is the message of beauty and solidarity the Alexandrov Ensemble stands for, which gives the hope, that the present awful relationship which exists presently among too many nations in the world can be replaced by a better one.
The four years which have passed since the tragedy occurred, have seen an avalanche of accusations against Russia, including several years of “Russiagate“ designed only to prevent a decent relation between the US and Russia, which all were based on lies, intrigues and manipulations. While not a shred of evidence could be produced, and many of these allegations have disappeared without any ado, that is not preventing the same circles to try to defame Russia again and again. What is the aim of all of this?
It is high time that we use the words of the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven: “Oh Freunde, nicht diese Töne, lasst uns angenehmere anstimmen, und freudenvollere!“O friends, no more these sounds!! Let us sing more cheerful songs, more full of joy!
Let us work in the still ongoing Beethoven Year, which has now been extended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, to elevate the relationship between the US and Russia to the spirit of the memory of the Alexandrov Memorial and that symphony, and proceed with the intention of Schiller and Beethoven expressed in the “Ode to Joy“: “Alle Menschen werden Brüder“, “All Men become Brethren“ and find a way to address the common aims of mankind.
`The Best of All Possible Worlds’
Address by John Sigerson, Schiller Institute Vice-President, on the occasion of the fourth annual memorial service for the Alexandrov Ensemble, December 28, 2020, at the Teardrop Memorial, Bayonne, New Jersey, USA.
As we gather here today, four short, tumultuous years after the tragic loss of the the gifted musicians of the Alexandrov Ensemble, along with journalists, military people, a beloved relief doctor, and crew, 92 in all, on their way on a mission of mercy and assistance to the people of Syria, I’m reminded of how thankful we should be that indeed, we live in the best of all possible worlds!
But how can anyone possibly assert that we’re in the best of all possible worlds, in the face of the man-made disasters that have befallen us, especially since the horrors of Sept. 11, 2001 which this teardrop memorializes, and since the terrible ensuing geopolitical wars, based on lies and deceit, which not only engulfed those wonderful musicians, but has thrown entire nations into chaos and misery? How can we assert this now, at the end of this annus horribilis, this awful year, bringing with it a deadly pandemic, along with starvation now threatening to snuff out the lives of 270 million of our fellow men, women, and children?
Yes, we can assert this, if we consider the following: Imagine a world where the deaths of 92 human beings, or even of 270 millions, is a good thing, something to be desired. And imagine a world where memorials such as this one, remembering and honoring those who perished, are of no consequence. Imagine a world in which friendship among nations is a fool’s errand, and where mutual suspicion and hostility is the most desirable condition among men, and among nations.
Now, such a world may exist in the crippled imaginations of some misguided individuals and institutions on our planet; it is, however, scientifically, demonstrably the case, that it is not the real world. Their world is an imaginary, dead world, a bestial world; whereas the real Universe is characterized by life, by development, and by what the American Founding Fathers termed “the pursuit of happiness.” Ours is a Universe which joyfully responds whenever we have discovered a new wonderful principle of its operations. It is also a just world, where we can be confident that meanness and ugliness will, in the grand course of history, inevitably go down to oblivion, as the German poet Friedrich Schiller wrote in his poem Nänie, set to music so beautifully by Johannes Brahms, which the Schiller Institute NYC Chorus performed at Carnegie Hall just one year ago.
Let us therefore rejoice, with all solemnity, that our tribute here to the 92 souls, and to all kindred souls who are now walking among the stars, will help to strengthen bonds of friendship, trust, and mutual assistance, not only between our two nations, Russia and the United States, but among all men and all nations of goodwill. For as Schiller also said in that same poem, even a song of lament on the lips of the beloved, is truly great and magnificent.
Remarks by Mr. Dmitry Chumakov, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, at the Memorial Wreath Laying Ceremony in honour of the Alexandrov Ensemble and other victims who perished at Christmas, 2016
Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear friends,
Today is the fourth time we get together to honor the memory of the victims of a plane crash that took place in the skies over Sochi on 25 December 2016. Back then we lost almost all members of Alexandrov Ensemble; Ms. Elizaveta Glinka – a renowned philanthropist and humanitarian worker; as well as journalists from Russia’s leading Media outlets.
I would like to express our deep appreciation to the Schiller Institute and the Fire Department of Bayonne. Annual meetings like this one have become our good tradition, which makes them all the more significant. We commend the efforts of American community to preserve the memory of those outstanding Russian musicians and luminaries in the United States. This year even the coronavirus pandemic could not stop us from gathering here.
Solidarity and mutual help are especially needed today, when the humanity has faced an unprecedented threat – COVID-19 pandemic. For the sake of our common future, peoples and states of the world need to erase all dividing lines, and channel their creative forces to articulating a joint response to this global challenge.
Russia and the United States, as two Permanent Members of the Security Council, bear special responsibility for sustaining global peace and security. In this context, it is of principal importance that the people of our two countries maintain most cordial relations and promote inter-state ties at the civil society level.
This is why it widely resonates in our hearts that American people empathize with our loss and grieve along with us.
May the memory of the deceased heroes live forever. The hope and the light that they conveyed to the world will perpetuate in the souls of those who admired their talent and dedication both in Russia and in the United States.
In this week’s Schiller Institute webcast, Helga Zepp-LaRouche covered the following subjects:
1. Various people are now warning of a coming crash—this confirms the warnings of Lyndon LaRouche, and underscores the need to move from a monetarist focus to an emphasis on physical economic development! This is not just a “financial” crash, but a physical breakdown that’s already taking lives, just look at the U.S. state of California: record forest fires, a homeless crisis, the spread of “third world” epidemics, etc. And, across the Atlantic, we have the “yellow jacket” revolt in France. LaRouche’s 4 Laws economic recovery program must be implemented now.
2. Going against the western media attacks on China, we have a major media outlets now raising a reassessment of China. The U.S. New York Times and France’s Le Monde are now discussing the success of China’s “different model!”
3. The upcoming G20 summit in Argentina could be incredibly important. We can have “careful optimism” that President Trump’s meetings with President Xi and President Putin can initiate a global strategic shift, but there must be a mobilization to support Trump’s desire for this (given all the anti-China and anti-Russia hysteria).
4. In the U.S., the Trump administration needs to move forward with the declassification of documents showing that it was the British that interfered in the U.S. 2016 Presidential election. Americans must again reclaim their republic from the British Empire!
5. We’re organizing a Renaissance! Real economic change requires a change in culture, back to the classical method, and we saw an excellent demonstration of this with the recent Schiller Institute concert in New York City.
Thumbnail Image Credit: DoD photo by Master Sgt. Christopher DeWitt, U.S. Air Force
In her weekly dialogue, Schiller Institute Founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche evoked the principle of statecraft as developed by Friedrich Schiller as the means by which the present dominant global paradigm can be swept away. She reviewed how that paradigm is threatened by a systemic collapse, but as long as the method of the thinking imposed by the oligarchy remains hegemonic, we face a worsening world situation of pandemics, famine and war.
The alternative requires a new idea of politics, in which citizens elevate the quality of thinking to a new level. Zepp-LaRouche said that Schiller provided the means to achieve this, in his Aesthetical Letters, in which he argues that “true political freedom is the highest form of art.” In the battles ahead, including that of reversing the election theft of the 2020 election, the defense of the ideals of a constitutional republic requires that citizens come to distinguish between the real enemies of the U.S., centered in the City of London, and potential allies, such as Russia and China.
She concluded by urging that to accomplish this essential goal of elevating the level of thinking of the citizenry, the “Beethoven Year” should be extended, until a majority of people are able to “Think like Beethoven.”
As the drumbeat for war grows louder, and the near-misses in the air and near-collisions at sea more numerous, it is more urgent than ever that a summit of major powers happen, as soon as possible. The escalation in rhetoric against Russia and Putin over the narrative being spread about the Navalny “poisoning” — being spread with the usual help of Britain’s Porton Down chemical warfare center and the British-directed media — may have been the deciding factor in Putin’s decision to not attend the UNGA in New York this month.
The exposure of a coup faction among retired military, by former JAG officer Col. Richard Black at last weekend’s Schiller Institute (SI) conference, is reverberating widely, as it reflects the view of patriotic military officials who reject the idea of a coup against Trump. The President himself, in his Labor Day press conference, drew attention to the role of the war party, referring to Eisenhower’s warning about the Military Industrial Complex, and the decision announced on Wednesday to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq demonstrates his intent to move on his pledge to end the “endless wars.”
In discussing this dangerous strategic situation, Helga Zepp-LaRouche urged viewers to use the video proceedings of the SI conference to elevate the level of dialogue in the population. The question that must be posed is, “Do you want war or peace?” If you want peace, join our mobilization to ensure a summit takes place BEFORE the election, as it will become more difficult as time passes, especially as the war party is building for a full-fledged constitutional crisis around the election.
